Treatment, not jail

The Dec. 9 op-ed article "Drug courts would ease prison crisis" makes good sense. The governor and Legislature should carefully consider its recommendations. By establishing drug courts, New Jersey's judiciary has acknowledged that for many drug offenders, intensive drug treatment is the best way to reduce future crime and recidivism and help them become sober, law-abiding, taxpaying citizens.
For all of us taxpayers, it is important to know that drug treatment costs much less than incarceration. For some drug offenders, jail is the right place to be; however, it would be better for all of us if most nonviolent drug offenders were provided the opportunity for drug treatment rather than being sent to jail.
As a cost-saving measure as well as a more realistic and appropriate approach to our society's drug problems, the governor and Legislature should begin to phase out prison beds that are set aside for nonviolent offenders, transferring those beds to licensed drug treatment facilities.